The next day, Abaddon and I find ourselves surrounded by a variety of machines and devices.
Robot Girl carried them in, explaining that they were all necessary items for starting out as a VTuber. She showed up first thing in the morning and worked swiftly and efficiently, just like a professional mover.
Some of the items I recognize, like the laptop, camera, microphone, monitor, and speaker. Others I’ve never seen before, like the motion-capture device and audio interface. They all look very high-tech. By the time Robot Girl is done, the house’s spare room has been transformed into a dedicated recording studio.
Not only does she move in all the materials, she sets them up, too. When I ask her where she stole it from, she tells me she manufactured it all herself. Apparently, she did it at her factory on the moon’s surface, just like with the translators we use to talk to Blondie. The moon feels so much closer these days.
Apparently, all of the devices are compatible with those in use on Earth but are far more advanced than anything currently on the market. The laptop, for instance, looks at first glance like an ordinary computer you’d find at an electronics store. Its processing power, however, is greater than the sum total of every other computer on the planet. Robot Girl has set it atop a desk in the corner, and when I try to use it, I find it works exactly the same as the ones in the computer room at school, right down to the OS. Mechanical life-forms really are something else.
“Not even a day has passed, and everything is accounted for,” says Abaddon as we look over the equipment.
“I’m just as shocked as you are, Abaddon.”
“Is what you did at school really worth all this?”
“If I get another opportunity, I might try to get a little closer to the younger sister.”
I had no idea she would provide me with such a complete setup. In no time at all, we had a space that looked like something a big company might spend ten million, or even a hundred million yen putting together.
“I wonder what would happen to your self-esteem if you wound up in last place with all this.”
“If that happens, you won’t get out unscathed, either.”
“Huh? Wait, I’m included?”
“That’s what we agreed on when we started, remember?”
“Then I guess I gotta roll up my sleeves and get to work!”
Robot Girl is even providing top-class follow-up service. She says she will be constantly monitoring the system, and that if any problems arise, she’ll access the network of devices remotely and get things working again in short order.
What’s more, the setup is extremely beginner friendly. If I say what I want to do out loud, a display will appear in midair and show me how to do it. And if I still don’t understand, Robot Girl will come in person to teach me.
Abaddon is right. Everything really is accounted for. The downside is that Robot Girl will know about all our videos. Then again, there’s no harm in that this time, so I decide to leave everything in her hands.
“What was the thought behind this 3D model design?” Abaddon asks.
“I was going for a generic main heroine-type girl—the kind you’d find in anime and manga made for guys. I figured it would be bad if I tried to do something overly original. Do you see anything wrong with it, as a demon?”
The front-facing character—said to be the very core of a VTuber—has already been prepared for me. Robot Girl and I sat in front of the laptop and worked together to model it a little while ago. The word “model” makes the process sound awfully technical, but all I did was answer her questions. She asked me about facial features, hairstyles, and clothing, and the model changed by itself to reflect my answers. After several rounds of questions, we settled on the current design.
“Not exactly. I was just wondering if maybe it was a little…aspirational.”
“I don’t really know what I’m ‘aspiring’ to, to be honest.”
“I guess that’s why you’re still keeping your distance from him, huh?”
“Yes, and if you understand, I wish you’d help me a little more with gathering intel.”
As Abaddon pointed out so sarcastically, the finished 3D model looks nothing like me. The virtual character’s most striking attribute is her long, straight, glossy hair. She wears bright colors, and she has fair skin and big round eyes. She’s beautiful, with well-balanced features.
With her affable, natural smile, she reminds me of an honors student who is kind to everyone in class, both boys and girls. Her tie is properly fastened at her neckline, and she wears a blazer that suits her well. Her appearance absolutely oozes sunshine and rainbows.
“People seem to like girls who look like this. From what I’ve seen, they’re often main characters in popular anime and manga, from past classics to big new shows.”
“I see. A standard beauty, then!”
“Exactly.”
Once Robot Girl finished her work, she immediately took off. I asked if she wanted to stay for a cup of tea, but she exercised a surprising amount of self-control and said she had other things to do. Now the two of us feel even more indebted to her. Of course, it’s always possible that was her aim.
“Did you give the model a name?”
“I intend to choose between Misaki, Moe, Ayano, and Yuuka.”
“Those are very specific. And you had them loaded and ready to go. I’m curious why.”
“Apparently, seventy percent of VTuber viewers are between the ages of ten and forty.”
“Ah, so this part of human culture is geared toward younger people! But what does that have to do with her name?”
“Out of that seventy percent, most monetary contributions come from financially stable men in their midtwenties to thirties. If I’m going to target them specifically, I think using a common female name from their age group will go a long way in gaining their affection.”
“Wow. That’s even sneakier than I imagined. Count me impressed!”
“It’s not being sneaky. It’s marketing, got it? I found out which baby names were most popular during the relevant years, then chose ones that aren’t too average, but also aren’t used by any currently famous VTubers.”
“From the design to the name—seems like everything is consistent.”
“Which name do you like best?”
“Huh? You want me to choose?”
“If you don’t have an opinion, I’ll go with Misaki. That was the most popular baby name at the time.”
“I mean, why not? This ‘marketing’ of yours suggests it’s the best choice, right? But that’s just the first name. You still need a last name. How are you going to pick that? Will you go for something familiar again?”
“If I did that, she’d be named Misaki Satou.”
“Oh, I just had a thought. If you pick something too common, won’t your page get buried in search results? If you’re aiming for views based on name recognition, that might prove fatal.”
“You’re pretty sharp.”
“So you really don’t have anything in mind?”
“To be honest, I figured it didn’t really matter. But I just changed my mind. The younger sister did a surprisingly good job of getting me all this equipment, so I’m thinking I should put in some real effort.”
“Then why not go with something especially unusual this time?”
“Understood. I’ll do a search for the rarest last names in Japan.”